Cambridge Grammar of English Hardback with cd-rom a comprehensive Guide

Û

539 Glossary for any unfamiliar terms

From utterance to discourse | 191

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Other types of phrase and short clause also function as response tokens. Common

ones include:

Û

also 242–249 Adverbs and adverb phrases

A–Z

56 Of course; 58 Okay/OK; 69 Right, rightly

HEADERS

96

Headers and clause structure   

96a

The dominant word order in English in both speech and writing is the declarative

S

-

V

-

X

where 

S

is the subject of the clause, 

V

is the verb and 

X

is any other item that

may be present, e.g. an object (

O

) or an adjunct (

A

). The theme (what the speaker

wants to talk about or the point of departure of the message) is usually the subject

of the clause (

Û

472

).

Fronting may be used to emphasise what the speaker considers to be especially

significant. The word or phrase which is fronted and which comes first in the clause

is highlighted or ‘thematised’ by the word order. Adjuncts are frequently fronted

for emphasis in both spoken and written language (

Û

473

), and objects and

complements can also be fronted. This is particularly common in spoken

language:

I like David but 

Pat I find rather odd.

(fronting of the object Pat)

I think we tried to see too much. 

Naples I remember but all those other towns

along the coast are a bit of a blur.

(fronting of the object Naples)

[trying to find a library book that is on short loan, i.e. must be returned after

only a very short period]

A: There’s another short-loan book round here somewhere that I have to get in

and I don’t know where it is. Yes. That one and there’s another one. Not one

on the floor down there is there?

B: No. 

A: It’s probably around here then. Aha. Hiding from me. And a very good book

it was too. 

(fronting of subject complement)

These fronted elements still remain within the clause structure:

[

C

= subject complement]